Before you all started to arrive this evening there was a bit of debate
among myself and some Rogue folk volunteers over whether the good weather
would make for a lower attendance. Well it didn’t. As always you managed to
pack the place with your great vibes and vibrant sounds.

Fabulous concert. It began with Jason who played the entire instrumental
version of Bohemian Rhapsody a la Jake Shimabukuro. Last month he did While
My Guitar – so it’s kinda hard to image what he’ll do from now on. Whatever
it is I’m sure it’ll be pretty good!

This was followed by another long song with lots of twists and turns. Adam
performed the ballad of Marty McFly which was essentially the Back to the
Future soundtrack with words added that related the story of the entire
movie. Extraordinary. See what you miss when you don’t come! Ha ha.

Tom M. sang Coney Island Washboard which was a pleasantly short 2 minutes
long. A nice change after the two epics that began the show. Maureen sang
Stand By Me which was notable in that she tackled the song very differently
to the way it is usually played. I found myself feeling unsure about it at
first until I gave up my prejudgment and settled into her unique style. Once
I did that it sounded very beautiful indeed. Interesting how the way we
choose to listen can affect what we hear.

Deryl sang the Answer to The Pub With No Beer. An Aussie ballad about how
“The Pub with No Beer” came to be in that predicament. Magda sang Ron
Sexsmith’s beautiful song Secret Heart and did so beautifully.

Boaz played a Leo Kottke song called Standing In My Shoes; and did so on
rip-snorting slide ukulele! April sang for us another epic of a song:
Leonard Cohen’s Chelsea Hotel #2. Again beautiful while being very different
to the way we usually hear it. Ron is always up on the obituaries and likes
to honour the songsters who pass away. So following this week’s death of
Merle Haggard Ron performed Okie From Muskokee.

Also this week I learned that Robert Plant and Jimmy Page are being sued for
stealing some bits of Stairway to Heaven. This reminded me that I do a
version of this song as it might have been tackled if George Formby and Fred
Astaire had had a chance to sing it. So that’s what I did. And finally Tom
S. and Boaz closed off the night with the Everly Brothers hit Love Hurts.

Thanks to all of you who came out.
Hey, and think about leading a song next time! Everyone likes more voices on
the stage so please consider it!

See you next meeting on May 17. Mark your calendar!
Keep Strumming and Smiling!!!
Ralph